Tiger has announced that he will return to golf at The Masters. Of course he will. Nothing like a little Tiger media mania to upstage golf’s best tournament.

From his website:

“The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been awhile since I last played.

“I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy, and I am continuing my treatment. Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life.

“When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play. I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding. Those are fantastic tournaments, and I look forward to competing in them again.

“I would also like to thank the Augusta National members and staff for their support. I have deep appreciation for everything that they do to create a wonderful event for the benefit of the game.”

I feel kind of sorry for the guy who wins this year’s Green Jacket (and I’m betting it won’t be Tiger). His name will forever be lost in the mania.

Steve Stricker made some pretty cutting comments this past weekend about Tiger’s return to golf:

“

Whenever he comes back it’s going to draw a lot of attention to that tournament. I don’t know if Augusta would like that to happen, you know? To turn it into ‘Tiger’s Comeback Tournament’ instead of the Masters tournament, itself. Hopefully, he comes back before then. You’d think, as a player, being gone for so long, he’d want to come back before.”

I wouldn’t put it past Tiger to think about making his comeback at a Major. But maybe now that he has Ari Fleischer at the PR helm, more reasonable heads will prevail. I think a Masters comeback would be a public relations disaster, bringing every golf writer on the planet to speculate that Woody thinks he’s bigger than the game itself.

And speaking of Fleischer, I’ve come to the conclusion that the “leaks,” with various dates for Tiger’s return are just trial balloons. That sort of thing goes on in Washington all the time, and it’s a tactic Fleischer is intimately familiar with: send out a few ideas as “leaks,” and see how the public reacts. One rumor says the Tavistock Cup; another, Bay Hill; a third, the Masters. I have no doubt that some “insider” also will float the notion that Tiger will sit out the Masters. Then it’s just a matter of choosing the one that plays best with the media and focus groups.

Update: Now, the AP is saying Tiger will be out until at least The Masters. I can’t imagine he’d go into a Major without a warmup, though. Too many chances to embarrass himself.

I keep asking myself: Why do I care? I don’t have an answer. It is perhaps like watching a train wreck.

Original Post

ESPN is reporting that Tiger will make his return to competitive golf at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Tournament. They seem pretty confident about the report.

If it’s true, then so much for the tearful whining at Tiger’s media event/mea culpa, where he said “I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don’t know when that day will be. I don’t rule out that it will be this year.” That, quite understandably, led people to believe that he was sincere and might sit out at least a major portion of the season to work on his family life.

But there apparently has been a miracle at the rehab clinic, for Tiger now is back practicing as though nothing has happened. As it turns out, he was out of rehab within days after he selfishly interrupted the tournament funded by former sponsor Accenture. His excuse for causing a distraction that Friday was that he had only a short window to make his confession before returning to the clinic. We know now that he played Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour, Accenture and the rest of the public for fools with that line.

Is ESPN correct in their short timeline for his return? If they are, then Tiger has played the public for fools again.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Golf Channel is reporting that Tiger has hired Ari Fleisher, Bush’s Press Secretary to handle his media problems.

It isn’t the fan’s business whether Tiger cheated on his wife, and I really don’t care about his personal perversions. To some extent, I felt misled by Tiger’s Jekyll and Hyde persona, but that was balanced with a great deal of amusement over the public’s (and my own) gullibility. But with his public pronouncement and setting of expectations about his return, Tiger made it the business of the Tour, of golf fans and of the general public. And if it turns out to be true, my own bemusement will turn to disgust. A Nike boycott just might be in order.

A few weeks ago, I suggested Electronic Arts might back out of their deal with Tiger by moving to a general PGA Tour game, featuring the likenesses of several “young guns.”:

From February 27:

By my count (I’m probably forgetting something), that leaves Tiger with just two high profile deals: Nike and Electronic Arts, makers of the Tiger Woods video game. Nike is in too deep to get out. I predict that EA will drop him in the next year in favor of a general PGA Tour game, with several top young guns as the hook. Picture a box with Kim, Villegas, and several other under 30 “hip” players smiling out at you. They could sign the whole lot for less than they pay Woods.

My predictions, it seems, have come true. Golf Week is reporting that Rory McIlroy will join Tiger on the cover of Tiger Woods 2011. The reason is ostensibly that this is a Ryder Cup year, and Rory is a European.

Right.

I stand by my prediction. EA will move away from Tiger.

The PGA Tour as a matter of policy doesn’t publicize its disciplinary actions, but John Daly’s discipline file now has become part of the public record as a result of a lawsuit he initiated. The big galoot’s discipline file apparently runs to 465 pages covering eighteen years of misdeeds. He’s been fined $100,000 , suspended five times, place on probation six times, cited for “conduct unbecoming” eleven times, and tagged 21 times for failing to give his best effort. He’s been investigated for allegedly attempting to run down an ATF agent.

I find it interesting that, in spite of all his failings, Daly remains a fan favorite, while Tiger takes a beating for personal failings. At least 21 times, Daly has quit on the fans. No one would ever accuse Tiger of that—he’s the guy who won a US Open on a broken leg. I’m absolutely Tiger has been fined for bad language, throwing clubs and generally bad behavior, but I’m equally certain that (current troubles not withstanding), that Woody’s never given the Tour a reason to suspend or put him on probation.

So why do people love Daly, but scoff at Tiger? The difference, I think, is in the honesty. Daily is refreshingly, brutally honest about his own failings. He laughs at them, sings about them (All My Exes Wear Rolexes), and exposes himself on television for all to see through his reality shows. When Tiger’s failings—long kept hidden from view—are finally exposed, he goes into hiding, stages a controlled media event, lashes out at reporters and basically tells people that he’s sorry, but it’s none of their business. (He’s correct about this, but that’s not what people want to hear).

Daly doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not. Tiger has. Daly won’t shut up. In his career, I doubt if Tiger has uttered ten unscripted sentences in public. Daly is “real,” and accessible to the fans. Tiger is an otherworldly Golf God, untouchable and unattainable. Big John has fans who like him, for all his faults. Tiger has fans because we admire his skills.

So John Daly is liked in a way that I don’t think Tiger ever will be. I think we see ourselves in John Daly, either in a “he’s just like me” or in a “there I go but for the grace of God” manner. Tiger, with his aloof manner, creates a wide gulf between himself and the public.

Mike Bianchi, in the Orlando Sentinal, chalks up the gulf to racism. If Daly were an NBA Athlete, Bianchi argues, he would be an outcast. But Bianchi’‘s wrong on this. There are plenty of NBA fan favorites with an antisocial background—Kobe? Charles Barkley, with his DUIs? Allen Iverson? Need I go on?

What Bianchi is missing is that these NBA stars remain popular because they’ve never made any real effort to hide their behavior. Indeed, in some cases, it seems to elevate their “cred.”

Just like Daly.